Aerosol-modulated heat stress in the present and future climate of India
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15547168 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sagnik Dey (0000-0002-0604-0869, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, corresponding author), Rohit Choudhary (0000-0003-3412-9366, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi), Rohit Kumar Choudhary, Abhishek Upadhyay (0000-0002-4849-3831, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi), S Dash (0000-0003-2649-7652, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi), S K Dash |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 12 |
| Pages | 124022-124022 |
| Publication date | 2021-11-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Research Letters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326 |
| Publisher | IOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1088/1748-9326/ac3530 |
| OpenAlex | W3209702765 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 35 |
Heat stress is one of the leading natural causes of mortality in India. Aerosols can potentially impact heat stress by modulating the meteorological conditions via radiative feedback. However, a quantitative understanding of such an impact is lacking. Here, using a chemical transport model, Weather Research Forecasting model coupled with chemistry, we show that high aerosol loading in India was able to mask the heat stress (quantified by the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT)) by 0.3 °C–1.5 °C in 2010 with a regional heterogeneity across the major climate zones in India. However, the cooling effect of aerosol direct radiative forcing is partially compensated by an increase in humidity. To understand the potential impact of air quality improvement (i.e. reducing aerosol load) on heat stress in the future, WBGT was projected for 2030 under two contrasting aerosol emission pathways. We found that heat stress would increase by >0.75 °C in all the climate zones in India except in the montane zone under the RCP4.5 scenario with a bigger margin of increase in the mitigation emission pathway relative to the baseline emission pathway. On the contrary, under the RCP8.5 scenario, heat stress is projected to increase in limited regions, such as the tropical wet and dry, north-eastern part of the humid sub-tropical, tropical wet, and semi-arid climate zone in peninsular India. Our results demonstrate that aerosols modulate heat stress and, therefore, the heat stress projections in India and anywhere else with high aerosol loading should consider aerosol radiative feedback
Aerosol · Arid · Atmospheric sciences · Climate change · Climate model · Climatology · Geography · Heat stress · Meteorology · Radiative forcing · Relative humidity · Tropical climate · Wet-bulb globe temperature · Air Quality and Health Impacts · Atmospheric aerosols and clouds · Climate Change and Health Impacts · Environmental Science · Ecology · Geology
Health and economic impact of air pollution in the states of India
Impact of High Temperatures on Mortality
Impact of regional climate change on human health
Workplace heat stress, health and productivity – an increasing challenge for low and middle-income countries during climate change
Occupational heat stress and associated productivity loss estimation using the PHS model (ISO 7933)
Occupational Heat Stress Profiles in Selected Workplaces in India
| Citations per year | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |